


Building a Wardrobe (To Hide From the World In)

by phantasticphun



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2012 Era (Phandom), Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, as in there's certainly a possibility this could've happened, based on a video
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-24 20:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20364280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantasticphun/pseuds/phantasticphun
Summary: Based on the prank Phil pulls on Dan at the end of THE WARDROBE; fluffy boyfriending ensues because their love holds strongest when it's challenged. Written for the PFF Hits Different Fest.





	Building a Wardrobe (To Hide From the World In)

Phil loves Dan.

He loves the way he smiles, two deep dimples pressed into his cheeks. He loves the way his hair curls when it’s wet. He loves the way his voice rises two octaves when he feigns annoyance. He loves the way his too-often chapped lips move against his when they kiss.

Phil keeps telling Dan to wear chapstick or vaseline or something, but he doesn’t listen.

Phil loves that about Dan too.

Dan doesn’t listen. Dan looks at the world with a smirk... on the best days, at least.

Sometimes, though, Dan is scared. He is scared quite often. Scared to drop out of uni. Scared to move to London. Scared of what the universe thinks of him-- of _ them _\-- but on the best days, Dan doesn’t listen to his fears. On the best days, Dan isn’t scared.

That’s why Phil is sitting in a dark wardrobe. He and Dan just built it and while Dan was distracted with something, Phil had crawled inside, hoping to prank his boyfriend.

Today isn’t a bad day. At least, Phil doesn’t think it is. Dan doesn’t seem all that scared, even though he was shaking with a cocktail of fear and excitement in his stomach while attempting to put the key in the door of their new flat only days ago. Phil wants to bust out of the doors with a smile on his face, just to see Dan jump for a moment and then grin that dimpled grin Phil adores so much. Maybe, if Phil’s lucky, Dan will fondly shake his head, roll his eyes, and then kiss him. They’ll edit out that part of the video when they upload it to YouTube-- a clip just for them-- but that’s what Phil hopes for as he sits in the dark.

~~~

Dan loves Phil.

He loves the way he smiles, when he _ truly _ smiles, his tongue caught between his teeth. He loves how he comforts him. He loves his silly, wonderful mind. He loves how he’ll try and try and try to help Dan crawl out of his dark thoughts if he’s having a bad day, if he’s scared.

Dan loves Phil so, so much-- to the end of the universe and back-- and perhaps that’s part of the fear. They’ve been together for almost three years now, and although the years have sucked in some ways, Phil is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

Maybe that’s frightening. Terrifying, even. Life sucks, but Dan loves Phil. Dan _ loves _ Phil.

But he has to hide. He’s not ready to address that part of him. He’s not ready for the world to see him like that. Dan loves Phil and he can’t tell anyone but Phil himself. Phil means more to him than any other being in the universe but he can’t let anyone know.

And maybe that’s okay. Maybe keeping their love for only themselves is okay. But sometimes, Dan finds, he wants to scream it from the rooftops, letting everyone in Manchester or London or all of England know that he is Phil’s and Phil’s is his and they’re in love.

It’s confusing.

Still, Dan loves Phil and that’s why, after kneeling down to pick up tiny pieces of styrofoam from off of the floor, his heart skips a beat to realize his boyfriend isn’t standing behind him anymore. 

~~~

Dan mumbles something. “We’re gonna wobble it, so…”

Phil smiles to himself in the dark.

“Phil?” Dan calls out. “Phi-il?”

Phil silently snickers in the wardrobe, but Dan can’t hear him.

“Phil?!” There’s an edge of desperation in his voice now, like he’s actually starting to get worried.

Phil doesn’t want to Dan to get worried. He doesn’t want to be the reason Dan’s good day turns into a bad one. Still, a prank is a prank. He shrugs slightly. He’ll wait a few more moments.

He hears Dan shuffling around. _ “Phil?! _” He shouts into the flat.

A pause.

“PHIL?!”

Phil busts out of the door with a smile. He’s kind of giddy that Dan didn’t figure his silly little plan out. “Rawr,” he half-growls, as he looks up at Dan, who appears to have been momentarily shocked.

Phil stands up and laughs at Dan, and when they make eye contact, Dan’s serious facade can’t help but be broken. He giggles right back.

“As if you got in the wardrobe… that’s not at all where I thought you were. I didn’t know where you were. In fact, maybe, I thought you…” Dan’s smile dissipates, causing Phil’s heart to sink. Today was supposed to be a good day.

Phil cocks his head. “Thought I what?”

“Thought you left me.”

There’s a pause. The laughter that filled the room only moments ago has floated away and suddenly Phil feels awful.

Dan speaks up again, his words jumbled together like he’s saying things just to make the moment pass. “I’m sorry I’m an absolute imbecile and everything, I just got really worried and I just… I don’t know. I’m sorry for flipping out over something as stupid as this, but Phil, I was _ worried _ and when I’m worried I like, I go on this whole mode where I want to cry out for comfort. Well, maybe, I think I was teetering on the edge of this and yeah, it was a _ prank _ and I need to stop being so damn stupid…”

“Dan, please,” Phil breaths out. “I should be the one who’s sorry. You know I’d never want to make you scared.”

Dan steps closer to Phil. “I know, I know,” he says, “I suppose it’s just, with all the stress of moving and money and hiding and everything, you pulling a silly, harmless prank made me freak out for a moment. That’s all.”

Phil pulls Dan into a hug. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

Dan nuzzles into Phil’s chest and mumbles, “The camera’s on, Phil.”

“I don’t care.” Phil smiles at Dan and again, like his momentary frowning never happened, Dan can’t help but grin back. “We can edit it out.”

“If we’re already editing so much, then I might as well do this,” Dan says, and pulls Phil in to peck him on the lips. “Love you too.”

“And please, let me know if, for any reason, you don’t want me messing around some days. I value you and I don’t ever want you to think that I’ve left your side.”

Dan nods against Phil. “Please never leave me,” Dan says, sincerely.

Phil is just as sincere when he responds. “I won’t.

Pulling away, Dan’s face is no longer fearful. He smiles wide, two dimples pressed deep into his cheeks.

“Then let’s get going and finish this wardrobe.”

Phil is a lucky guy.

~~~

They stand back for a moment to observe this thing they’ve just constructed. Soon, though, Dan has turned around towards the camera and he’s singing, “We built a wardrobe, yeah, we built a wardrobe...”

In the almost-three years they’ve been together, they’ve built much more than just a wardrobe.

They’ve built trust.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @sky-dnp on tumblr for beta reading! 
> 
> In case you want to refresh your memory (or you haven't seen it) here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxLYC1AVZ94


End file.
